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Second year students from BA (Hons) Media Production are excited to be starting a project using the interactive filmmaking platform Stornaway.io.

1st March 2021
TV, film, media production and technology

Interactivity in film content gained huge popularity through Charlie Brooker’s Netflix phenomenon ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’. The interactive film allows viewers to make choices at key points in the film which changed how the story played out for audiences. Since then, the popularity of interactive content has continued to grow and media firm Stornaway.io have recently developed a software platform that allows its users to create interactive storytelling in films and games.

Students on BA (Hons) Media Production will soon be starting a project using this unique platform for the module ‘Imagining reality’ and will be asked to create an interactive piece between 5-8 minutes long. Dr Roy Hanney, Course Leader for Media Production said "Working with Stornaway.io is a great example of the way in which collaboration between industry and academic can not only enhance the student experience but can also be of real benefit to a business. Not only are students getting the opportunity to work in a new and emerging area of media production practice they are also working with a start-up company and their feedback will help further develop and refine the platform. This is real research and development which everyone is benefiting from".

"Having the opportunity to add this project to their CV will really give the students an edge when they graduate as not many students in the world, let alone the UK will be able to say they have been part of a project like this".

BA (Hons) Media Production student Charles Rickard said of the project “I am most looking forward to having the creative freedom to come up with a story that can take a variety of twists and turns down different avenues. As well as getting to taught how use a new innovative software as with online classes I’m missing equipment supplied by the university, so getting a ‘hands on’ experience with a fresh bit of kit is always exciting.”

Kate Dimbleby, co-founder of Stornaway.io said of this partnership: “We are so excited to be partnering with Dr Roy Hanney and Solent University and enabling media students to create new stories using Stornaway.io. New forms of digital storytelling are changing so rapidly that it is important for us to be working with the next generation of media makers to shape the tools with which these stories are told.”

Feeling inspired? Discover BA (Hons) Media Production